Persistent ankle pain!!!

Question
Hi, I don't usually run far distances, but I do run a mile or two regularly along with competitive irish dancing.  I sprained my ankle in February of this year and was on crutches for a week and had to not do sports for the week after that.  I landed on the side of my ankle coming down from one of my jumps.  My ankle had been consistently hurting for months before- a dull pain that worsened with activity, but never got unbearable- but I never really rested it before being on crutches.  After I went back to dance I worked with my physical education teacher and started doing more exercises to strengthen my ankle.  I jogged a bit, but only around my block because it started to hurt more after that much.  it still bothered me but I just tried different ankle braces and kept dancing and lightly jogging (probably a mistake looking back on it!).  The dance year ended in June so I had a couple of weeks resting it before the summer camps started.  Well in late June/ early july i started dancing again and the pain came back worse than I had remembered it being at the end of the year.  At that point i stopped running all together because i was wiped out after classes and spent the evenings either at class or icing it at home.  The pain is usually on the outer part of my left ankle- the same one that i injured back in february.  i did 4-6 hours of dance (depending on the day) for two weeks.  I mostly danced in my running sneakers instead of the usual dance shoes to try and give it more support while jumping- but that didn't help it very much.   I'm trying the ankle exercises my teacher gave me but they don't seem to be helping at all- only causing more pain.  I have a dance competition in 2 weeks and really don't want to skip.  Do you have any idea of what might be causing the pain? By the way- I'm a 13 year old girl if that helps at all.

Thank you for your help!!

Answer
Dear Brenna,

This Orthopedic Chicago Podiatrist located in West Loop 60661,Roscoe Village 60618, Elmhurst 60126 & Bartlett 60103 says...
Tell your parents right away of your problems & go have it looked at a a Board Certified Podiatrist. Sounds like the injury you suffered has not healed & your activity level does not let it heal. You do need to have it looked at & not worry about the competition. Worry about making your ankle worse.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck!
The Chicago Podiatrists of AnkleNFootCenters.com are specialists in orthopedics and sports medicine.
We are located in Chicago & Elmhurst

Dr George Tsatsos & Svetlana Zats
Podiatrist Chicago 60618 & Elmhurst 60126 Podiatrists
Board Certified in Foot and Ankle Surgery & Orthopedics
New South Loop Location-Chicago 60661


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